The 55-year-old swimmer who went missing during a presumed shark attack in Pacific Grove Sunday was identified as Erica Fox, a triathlete who took part in Escape From Alcatraz for 20 years and swam at Lovers Point every Sunday for two decades.
As the Chronicle reports, Pebble Beach resident Erica Fox swam every Sunday at Lovers Point in Monterey County’s Pacific Grove — where she disappeared Sunday — for about 20 years with the weekly open water swim group she co-founded called Kelp Krawlers. On Sunday, Fox reportedly took a wider route than the rest of the group members, who swam west into Otter Cove, per Monterey County Now.
As SFist previously reported, members of the group heard a large splash and rushed to shore, but Fox never returned. Authorities said two eye witness accounts indicated potential shark activity in the area. Multiple agencies were involved in the search, which covered over 84 square nautical miles before it was suspended Monday afternoon, per the Chronicle.
Fox was a two-time Half Ironman winner who participated in the annual Escape From Alcatraz triathlon for 20 years. Per the Chronicle, fellow open swimmer Sara Rubin wrote on Monterey County Now, where she’s the editor, that Fox was a “bright light” who was “quick to laugh and seemed to be always smiling.”
“Multiple books have been written about the science of swimming and what it does for our brains,” she wrote. “But Erica never needed a book to tell her what she knew through experience: Swimming in the ocean is a balm for body and mind, an adventure as much as a meditation.”
“She developed a deeply intimate relationship with the Pacific Ocean not by studying it or by looking at it, but by getting into it—again and again and again, on choppy days and gloriously calm days, logging what I can only guess are thousands of miles,” Rubin continued.
Per Bay Area News Group, Lovers Point, which was featured in the 2024 edition of Places We Swim California, is a popular destination among tourists and locals, but precautions should be taken to avoid coming into contact with sharks, despite the risk being low.
This includes being mindful of the time of year and the presence of prey, including elephant seals, harbor seals, and sea lions — so as to avoid being mistaken for prey. While shark season peaks in September through November, Bay Area News Group writes that a buoy run by Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station at Cabrillo Point detected five sharks within about 500 yards of Lovers Point this December, including two in the past week, which is only a small fraction of shark activity in the area.
Experts also advise swimming in groups and staying closer to shore — so sharks can’t sneak up on swimmers from below, per Bay Area News Group.
Caroline Clements, co-author of Places We Swim California told Bay Area News Group that Sunday’s incident shouldn’t deter readers from visiting Lovers Point. “Like in California we understand swimming comes with risks and sharks are out there in the water,” Clements said. “It’s so rare that someone gets bitten but it is a reality. Lovers Point is a beautiful spot loved by many, which is why we included it.”
Image: Kelp Krawlers/Facebook
Previously:Authorities Search for Missing Swimmer Near Pacific Grove Who May Have Been Attacked by Shark
